Abstract:
Using their novel bio-bar-code amplification (BCA) technology, researchers analyzing fluid from around the brain and spinal cord have detected a protein linked in recent studies to Alzheimer's disease.

If proven successful in further clinical studies, the procedure could become the first tool for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's, and the first test to conclusively identify the disease in living patients.

Chad Mirkin and William Klein of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) for Nanopatterning and Detection Technologies at Northwestern University, and their colleagues, announce their findings the week of Jan. 31 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences